Front Office Staffers Begin GM Interviews

Ryan Cowden and Monti Ossenfort met with the New York Giants on Friday, Ossenfort will talk to the Minnesota Vikings as well.

As expected, interest in members of the Tennessee Titans personnel department is on the rise.

Director of player personnel Monti Ossenfort will interview with the Minnesota Vikings this weekend, according to an ESPN.com report Friday. The Vikings are searching for a new general manager, and their choice will get a hire a head coach.

Minnesota fired general manager Rick Spielman and coach Mike Zimmer after an 8-9 record in 2021 and one playoff appearance in the past four seasons.

Ossenfort, 43, already has interviewed with the New York Giants as part of that team’s search for a new general manager as well.

The Giants, who fired general manager Dave Gettleman and coach Joe Judge after a 4-13 campaign, also interviewed Tennessee’s vice president of player personnel Ryan Cowden. Both of those interviews took place Friday. Cowden and Ossenfort were the fifth and sixth candidates, respectively, to meet with franchise officials.

Ossenfort will be one of the first to talk to the Vikings. He is a Minnesota native who played quarterback at University of Minnesota-Morris (an NCAA Division III program), where he was a two-year starter. His first experience in the NFL was as a training camp intern with the Vikings in 2001.

The bulk of his professional experience came with the New England Patriots. He filled multiple roles over 14 seasons with them, including director college scouting, national and area scout. He also spent time with the Houston Texans.

Tennessee hired him in 2020, when Cowden was promoted from director of player personnel to his current post. Cowden, 43, has been with the franchise since 2018.

The Titans set an NFL single-season record with 91 players used during the just-completed regular season. That, combined with the fact that they finished 12-5 and earned the No. 1 seed in the AFC playoffs, helped make Cowden and Ossenfort prominent candidates for this year’s general manager openings. Each interviewed for available general manager jobs in recent years with no success.